


4 - "No, stop!"

by BubbaKnowlton



Series: Whumptober 2018 [Disko kid edition] [4]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Attempted Murder, Gen, Whumptober 2018, dukat/benjamin sisko (background), orb experience gone wrong, post-dominion takeover of the station
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 14:17:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16265945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubbaKnowlton/pseuds/BubbaKnowlton
Summary: Honestly, Ben thinks, it's like the Prophets are trying to kill their son. / Whumptober 2018-Something felt very wrong. “Do you hear that?” he asked the vedeks.“Hear what, child?”“Humming. And- and a voice.”





	4 - "No, stop!"

**Author's Note:**

> and now the Prophets really try to kill Sisko and Dukat's kid  
> Joey's age and timeline is changed for the convenience of each prompt, he's maybe,,, 5 or so

**4 - “No, stop!”**

Joey sunk down in a corner and hugged his knees to his chest. His plush aspth, Jackie, was tucked under one arm. A few people walked by, but he didn’t recognize any of them, and they didn’t take notice of him.

Everything was different, and Joey didn’t know how he was supposed to handle it.

The lights were dimmer, and the temperature was higher. The station finally felt comfortable, and Jake didn’t have to bundle him up when they got up that morning. It was a relief to wear less layers, but it just felt wrong. The station was supposed to be cool and bright, and hot and dim was supposed to be reserved for his sister’s quarters and the holosuites.

His dad was gone, away on the Defiant as the Dominion took over the station. Joey hadn’t been so sure of what that meant, just that he and Jake had hid away in a corridor while their friends and family left them behind. His sister was on Bajor, and they were surrounded by unfamiliar people, Cardassians and Jem’hadr. 

He sniffled, and tucked Jackie between his legs and his chest so he could bury his face against him. If anyone saw that he was crying, they pretended not to.

Everyone but his brother was gone, and nothing felt right, and he was so, _so_ tired. He wanted to curl up on his dad’s lap and watch him go over reports until it was time for bed, to sit with his sister and watch her paint, to have one of the Starfleet officers crouch down next to him and ask what was wrong.

His brother was off interviewing someone for his journalism, and had told him to stay put where no one could see him. Jake was worried that if he was seen, he would get carted off to his father and they wouldn’t be allowed to see each other again.

Joey wanted to see his father, but he wanted to be able to see his brother more.

But then... he couldn’t help but wander through the promenade in a fatigued daze, wondering if someone really would snatch him up. Everyone ignored him, and Jake had been wrong. He wouldn’t be brought to his father. He probably thought he was down on Bajor, with Ziyal, or on the Defiant, like he was supposed to be.

His sobbing stopped after a while, and his eyes and throat hurt. Joey wiped his eyes with his sleeve, and looked up. The hallway was empty, now.

Jake would be looking for him soon, so he stood up and started to walk back to where he was supposed to be staying. Exhausted, his vision was starting to blur, and his legs felt heavy.

Someone grabbed his arm, and he turned his head to see a Cardassian soldier. He was scowling, and there was a look in his eyes Joey recognized, one Bajorans tended to give him before they realized who his dad was. “Joseph, your father would like to see you.”

Oh, Jake had been right after all. Joey briefly wondered why he didn’t listen to his brother more often. “Um, but I’m supposed to find my brother.”

“I have orders to bring you to Gul Dukat.”

“Can we see my brother first?”

“ _Immediately._ ”

He swallowed. “But- ow!” The soldier lifted him up rather roughly, and he almost dropped Jackie. “Hey, that hurts!”

“Quiet. It won’t hurt once we get to Gul Dukat.”

Joey squirmed, trying to break free. The soldier just tightened his grip around him. “Let me go!”

People stared at them as they entered the promenade. The soldier grabbed his wrists and squeezed them. “Stop that! Don’t you want to see your father, brat?”

“I want to see my brother!” Jackie slipped from his arms, and the plush bounced once when it hit the floor. “No, Jackie!”

“Come on.”

“Please! I dropped Jackie!”

“It’s just a stupid Bajoran toy.”

Joey bit down on the Cardassian’s hand, and was released as the man hissed in pain. He scrambled over to Jackie and scooped him up, holding him tightly.

“Damn kid-” The soldier grabbed at him again, but Joey ran. “Get back here!”

Now everyone was staring as he got chased, and Joey was certain he saw Odo among the crowd. It would have been smart to go to him, but he wanted his brother more.

“ _Joseph, this way_ -” Joey skidded to a halt when he heard a woman’s voice he didn’t recognize. He looked around, but no one around him appeared to have said anything. “ _Come to the temple, child. We will help you._ ”

He’d never gone in the Bajoran temple before. His dad had kept him shielded from all his business as the Emissary, from anything to do with the Prophets. He’d overheard his dad once telling Dax that he’d a vision involving him and the prophets, and that something horrible was supposed to happen to him if he became involved with them. Joey wasn’t sure what that meant, exactly.

Surely just entering the temple wouldn’t count as being involved with them.

He ran into the temple, which was being packed up. Joey didn’t think the vedeks would like living on a station run by Cardassia and the Dominion. Once he was in, he slowed down.

“I’m here,” he said, looking around for whoever had called to him. He saw a corridor, and entered it. He could hear a soft hiss. It led to a room where a few vedeks were packing up some sort of box, and the hissing turned into something that sounded like a hum. “Hello?”

The vedeks all exchanged a look, tense. “Hello, child. You shouldn’t be in here, the temple is closed.”

“Oh. But someone told me to come in here.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. It wasn’t any of you?”

“No.”

“Can I stay in here? My father is looking for me, and I don’t want to see him yet.”

“Your father...?”

He didn’t want to tell a group of Bajorans who his Cardassian father was. “I’m looking for my brother, Jake Sisko.”

“Ah, you are the Emissary’s son.” They relaxed. “Of course you are welcome to stay in the temple, Joseph.”

“Thank you!”

“If you’d like, you can help us pack.”

He was tired, but he had nothing else to do. “Sure. What can I do?”

“Blow out those candles and pack them into that crate over there.” 

Joey nodded, and went over to a group of low candles. He tucked Jackie under his arm to keep him away from the flames, and blew. After putting them into the crate, he asked, “What are you putting in that crate?”

“It is the Orb of Contemplation. Your father has used it before.”

“ _Approach it, Joseph Procal._ ”

None of the vedeks had said that. Joey came over, suddenly drawn to the case. “He did?”

“Yes, before he was realized to be the Emissary.”

“ _Come closer, child of Cardassia._ ” The humming grew louder.

Something felt very wrong. “Do you hear that?” he asked the vedeks.

“Hear what, child?”

“Humming. And- and a voice.”

They responded that they didn’t hear that. “What is the voice saying, child?”

“ _Closer, child, fix the mistake that has been made. Dispose of the anomaly in the Sisko’s timeline._ ”

“She wants me to fix a mistake.” He stepped closer. “Something’s wrong, I think.”

“ _Erase the aberration the tyrant of Bajor has created! Reach for us!_ ”

The case hummed, and the vedeks looked at it. The door cracked open, showing a white light.

Joey reached for it, and one of the vedeks shouted, “No, stop!”

The box opened, and a white light shot out at him, throwing him against the wall. Joey cried out as a burning heat enveloped him, and a pressure wrapped around his neck, silencing him. His vision faded to black, and then he felt like he was floating before everything just... _stopped._

-

“Really, Odo, you expect me to believe that the Prophets tried to kill my son?” Joey could hear his father’s voice when he woke up. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Gul Dukat, I assure you, the vedeks did not try to murder Joseph. He opened the Orb, and the experience almost killed him. It was not the Prophets, either.”

“An orb experience-”

“Can be very dangerous. Visions are unpredictable. Besides, the vedeks called for help immediately. Why would they have done that if they had been the ones to hurt him?”

“To deflect suspicion!”

Joey was _freezing._ Every inch of him was so cold it was painful. As he regained feeling, it just hurt, more and more. He tried to move his arm, but it just sent a spark of pain up from his shoulder. He whimpered.

“Joseph?”

It was difficult, but he managed to open his eyes. Everything was blurry, and spots pulsed in his vision like he’d stared at a cluster of bright lights for too long. Something pressed against his neck, and his vision began to clear. The exhaustion that normally plagued him faded away to a slight fatigue. He blinked until he could clearly see his father standing beside him. 

“His temperature is still dangerously low, but the stimulant should help.”

“Can I ask him a few questions?” Odo asked.

“Talking and moving will warm him up. Go ahead.”

Odo waited until Joey made eye contact with him before asking, “What happened?”

He wanted to answer, but he was too cold, in too much pain. “It hurts...” His eyes burned as tears welled up. Another hypo was pressed to his neck, and numbness spread through him. He lifted up an arm, finding it heavy but no longer painful.

Joey reached for his father, the tears spilling. His father had him sit up so he could be wrapped in a thermal blanket before picking him up. Odo asked him another question, but he couldn’t stop sobbing.

“That’s enough for today, Odo. He’s frightened.”

“I’ll come back tomorrow.”

-

His temperature was brought back up to a safe level, and by the next morning, his body heat had adjusted to match the warmth of the station. He was released from the infirmary. His father had him wear a thicker layer, just in case his temperature dipped down again, and he felt pleasantly warm, though still a bit sore.

“Can I see Jake later?” He asked, as he zipped up his jacket. His fingers hurt, and it was difficult to grasp the small tab, so his father did it for him.

“Of course. He has to know what happened to you while on his watch. I’ll have your sister return to the station, as well. Wouldn’t you like to stay with her?”

“Yeah!” It would be great to see his sister again, to have another family member back on the station.

“Good boy.” His father lifted him up. “I have a meeting with Weyoun, and then we’ll go talk to Odo.”

-

“The vedeks said that you walked into the orb chamber, and greeted them. They returned the greeting, and asked you what you were doing in there. You told them someone had told you to go there, but didn’t know who. You asked to stay there, to avoid your father.”

“Avoid me?”

Odo ignored his father’s incredulous echo. “You told them you were looking for your brother, and because you were the son of the Emissary, they agreed to let you stay. You helped them pack a few candles, and then approached the orb chamber, asking what it was. You told them you could hear humming and a voice that was telling you to fix a mistake. It began to open, and you reached for it. A ball of energy came out of it and struck you. You screamed, and then passed out. Is that true?”

“ _Lie,_ ” the woman’s voice told him, making him wobble a bit. He rubbed his eyes.

“Joseph? Are you feeling alright?” His father put his hands on his shoulders, frowning.

And although the voice had tried to kill him, he looked at the two of them and listened to her. “I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember? A few witnesses on the Promenade said they saw you being carried by a Cardassian soldier. You bit his hand when you dropped your toy, and then ran into the temple.”

“Um... Jake told me to stay in his quarters, but I didn’t want to, so I walked around. I got really sad, and, oh! Yeah, he did pick me up!”

“The soldier?”

“Yeah! In the habitat ring! He said he had orders to take me to Father.”

“I did order one of my men to get Joseph.”

“Then what happened?”

“The way he was holding me hurt...”

“What happened when you got to the Promenade?”

“I don’t...” Joey frowned. “I don’t remember going to the Promenade. Can we stop? My head hurts...”

“Alright. But if you remember anything, tell me.”

Joey couldn’t believe that they weren’t catching his lie. His dad had always told him he was a bad liar. Even Jake had been able to catch him every time. He spaced out as he was picked up, and Jackie rolled out of his arms.

“Ah.” He weakly reached for the toy. Odo bent down and picked it up for him. Joey took the plush back.

They made eye contact. Odo’s gaze bore into him. “You wouldn’t be lying, would you, Joseph?”

“Really, Odo- why would he lie? He’s a scared child who’s gone through something traumatic. He wouldn’t lie to his father.”

“I suppose not.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow/talk to me on Tumblr: @Oblio-k


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